Days after Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut made a false claim on social media about a 73-year-old woman farmer in Punjab for her participation in the farm protest, the woman in question has said she is motivated enough to go to Delhi even now and be part of the stir.
On November 29, Ranaut made a false claim about the 90-year-old Bilkis from Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh protests, better known to the world as “Dadi”. In a Twitter post that has since been deleted, the actress claimed that Bano was available for hire to make appearances in protests for “Rs 100”.
After being criticised from all corner for spreading fake news, She deleted the tweet.
In an interview to Indian Express, Mohinder Kaur said farming is difficult for her at this age and that is why she has been going to morchas to support the farmers.
“I was told some actor wrote about me like this. She never visited my house, never saw what I am doing and she said that ‘I am available at Rs 100’. Bhot buri gal hai…assi ki karne hai 100 rupaye. I have three daughters, all are married. My son lives with me along with his wife and children. I have harvested crop with sickles. I pick cotton even now. At home, I sow vegetables for the family myself and take care of the crop,†she was quoted as saying.
“I can go to Delhi even now. I have that enthusiasm .. I am active enough to be part of farmers’ agitation,†she added.
Ranaut joined the fake news brigade and propagated the claim further with her tweet: “She is the same Dadi who was named by Time Magazine as India’s most powerful person…And she is available in Rs 100”.
She added that “Pakistani” journalists had “hijacked PR for India in an embarrassing way. We need more our own people to speak for us internationally”.
Ranaut’s claims were refuted by fact-checkers. Speaking to Boom, Bilkis herself confirmed that she had not appeared at the farmer’s protest. “I am sitting at home, in Shaheen Bagh. I am not the one in the photo. The farmers who are protesting and the photo of the woman that is being shared is not mine. I will be joining the protest tomorrow,” Bilkis told BOOM over video.
Her son also confirmed that though Bilkis did plan to join the protest, she had not yet made an appearance.
The fact-check also found that the image was shared by other platforms such as Amar Ujala on November 27 while describing a convoy of women who came to Delhi as part of the protests. The origin of the photo remains unverified. However, in the photo, the women can be seen with Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) flags and wearing yellow scarves – the uniform of women farmers belonging to the organisation.
The image could in fact be from 2015 when a large number of women in yellow scarves from the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) led protests against the Centre’s farm bills in Chandigarh.
